Friday, September 13, 2013

Putin On the Ritz*

Putin Addresses Americans on SyriaRussian President Vladimir Putin appealed directly to the American people this week
through a New York Timesopinion
piece in which he urged the United States not to strike Syria and instead
seek a diplomatic solution. Putin said bypassing the United Nations and taking
military action without a UN Security Council resolution could further
destabilize the Middle East and North Africa, "unleash a new wave of
terrorism," and "undermine multilateral efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear
problem." Putin said Russia is not "protecting the Syrian government, but
international law." He also cautioned that civilian casualties "are
inevitable" no matter how targeted a military strike may be. He claimed
"there is every reason to believe" opposition forces, and not the
Syrian military, used chemical weapons in Syria. And, he took umbrage with the idea
of American exceptionalism, warning that it is "extremely dangerous to
encourage people to see themselves as exceptional." Sen. Robert Menendez
(D-N.J.), Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, said he "almost
wanted to vomit" after reading Putin's Sept. 11 piece while at dinner, reported CNN. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Thursday, in a tweet, called Putin's piece "an insult to the intelligence of every American." (See also Washington Post'sfact check of Putin's piece.)

Do read that WaPo piece. It's a pretty good and fairly neutral analysis of Putin's Op Ed in the NYT. Plus... you can kill two birds with one stone if you've not yet read the Op Ed. My opinion? Syria ain't our fight and we should stay the Hell out of it. Just sayin'.

Some minor facts about the recently completed Grand Tour of 2013... the average speed/average economy numbers are taken from The Tart's computer, which hasn't been reset since I bought her (in other words, the numbers are the averages for well over 10,000 miles). The numbers in parens are from the one-year report.

I agree with your opinion on Syria. I'm sure by now, the Tart is de-bugged (front grill,) and slick as a whistle.I enjoyed the pics and comments on your l o n g roadtrip.To quote Dorothy, (There's no place like home, Auntie M!)